eased to have help on the weekends, and that gave me some type of income while keeping my weekdays free for school an

I was feeling was a perfectly normal response to being shoved in a van agains

siness died down, I was sent to the front counter to wipe down menus and greet customers. When I h

t to respond. After all, I was at work, and he was a

ent with your hair pulled back. You’ve still got a few extra pounds in thos

“So is that a table for one, then?” I did my best to main

no expert. But I’m pretty sure your boss would agree with me.” His tone was just as arrogant as ever. Grating and drippin

m. I forced the corners of my mouth into a tiny

n so much.” He looked around the cafe. “But no, I’m not going to be eating here. I need t

not to look at him. “Alright, so I have one shrimp with avocado salad on endives and a ristretto dop

ned you right up.” He produced a wallet from the back

I was worried that speaking would cost me my job. He opened his wallet and started thumbing through

order, and extended them to me. “Here, put the change in your little ti

“Your order should be ready in about ten minutes. If you want to have a seat while you wait, I can bring i

nk I’ll just hang out here with you.” He casually leaned his body over the counter that separated us, looking me over entire

n’t pleasant to be around,” I said through grinding teeth. I

index finger under my chin, tilting it up to force

led into the wall behind me. "I'm going to go check on

ask one of the servers to bring it to him, that would only make him tease me mo

drink. He took the bag easily enough, but when I extended the drink he wrap

ee you with bags under your eyes." He smacks his dry, thin lips in a gro

stride. As he rounded the corner, I caught a glimpse of

t he would be keeping a close eye on me. Jok

he next customer. I took a long sip of the ristretto and exha